SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE. 129 



Judging^ from the account of Mr. Loomis, there is much enjoyment to be 

 had incidentally from a scientific expedition to a strange land.* Merely 

 passing over unfamiliar ground and observing its natural features, its in- 

 habitants in their everyday aspect, and its ordinary sequence of events has 

 its interest. But when the traveler is engaged in operations that are enough 

 out of the common to appear somewhat weird to the non-scientific native 

 and arouse his active curiosity, traits are brought out that do not appear to 

 the ordinary visitor. A more realizing sense of the physical, political, and 

 industrial condition of a strange land, too, is obtained when one has to 

 accomplish a definite piece of work with the means that it affords than, 

 when one is concerned merely with passing through it. Personal equa- 

 tion is quite as much a factor in books of travel as in scientific observa- 

 tions. How much we prefer the writer who jots down the points that we 

 take an interest in and answers the queries that arise in our minds as we 

 follow his narrative ! The reader with scientific tastes especially will enjoy 

 Mr. Loomis's book. It describes the journey of the United States Scien- 

 tific Expedition to West Africa in 1889-*90, the preparations for viewing 

 the eclipse of the sun, and the return. After crossing the Atlantic, stops 

 -were made at the Azores, Cape Verd Islands, Sierra Leone, and on the 

 Gold Coast before the destination of the expedition Saint Paul de Loan da 

 was reached. On the return, Cape Town, the diamond mines of Kim- 

 berley. Saint Helena, Ascension, and Barbados were visited. The book 

 gives abundant evidence that our author, in addition to his ability to record 

 matters of exact observation, is not without a realizing sense of the beauti- 

 ful and inspiring in Nature. The volume is handsomely printed, and is 

 copiously illustrated with reproductions of photographs taken by members 

 of the expedition. 



Another careful study of a special field has been added to the Criminol- 

 ogy Series. t The habitual criminal presents a much more serious problem 

 than the occasional offender. Criminal habits, like most others, are formed 

 in youth ; hence any diminution that can be secured in the amount of 

 juvenile crime will tend to reduce the most troublesome class of criminals. 

 At present the author's study, of statistics and other pertinent facts indi- 

 cates that juvenile crime is increasing in both Europe and America. Its 

 distribution agrees substantially with that of adult crime. While the bulk 

 of juvenile criminals are boys, Mr. Morrison finds that "female offenders 

 are rather more likely to descend into the ranks of habitual criminals than 

 male offenders." He accounts for this largely from the fact that " females 

 are, as a rule, later in being subjected to reformative discipline than males, 

 with the ultimate result that this discipline is less effective when at last it 

 has to be resorted to. It is therefore," he continues, " no real kindness to 

 female children, when they exhibit symptoms of habitual delinquency, to 

 allow these symptoms to develop unheeded." As to the kinds of crime 

 committed by children, our author finds that petty theft and vagabondage 

 are by far the most prevalent, mental and physical immaturity making it 

 impossible for the young to be serious offenders against either person or 



An Eclipse Party in Africa. By Eben J. Loomis. Elustrated. Boston: Roberts Bros. Pp.218, 

 8vo. Price, $4.50. 



t Juvenile Offenders. By W. Douglas Morrison. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 317, ICmo 

 Price, $1.50. 



VOL. LI. 10 



